Tubular plow beam and improved frog construction



G. VLAICH Jan. 4, 1955 TUBULAR PLOW BEAM AND IMPROVED FROG CONSTRUCTION Filed March 29, 1950 IN V EN TOR. 650F615 VA 14/ C A United States Patent TUBULAR PLOW BEAM AND IlVlPROVED FROG (IONSTRUCTION George Vlaich, Centerline, Mich, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application March 29, 1950, Serial No. 152,675

1 Claim. (Cl. 97-197) This invention relates to an improved plow frame of tubular construction and to an improved and simplified frog construction for use with the tubular plow frame.

imown types of plow frames have heretofore utilized a plow beam of solid and generally rectangular bar shape for such beam and many of these beams have been rolled to an I-beam section for increased strength and rigidity. Along with such plow beam, a plow bottom construction was utilized which has been in use for a long period of time and which is generally difiicult and expensive to fabricate due to the type of construction employed. It long has been believed necessary to provide for example, a heavy frog or standard fabricated from a thick plate by forging or stamping to a generally V-shaped configuration. Obviously, this item alone requires the use of large and expensive dies and heavy forging or pressing equipment.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved plow and frame construction utilizing components which are cheaply and readily manufacturable without the necessity of complicated and expensive machinery.

Another object of this invention is to provide a builtup welded plow frog or standard of simplified construction for ease of fabrication.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved plow frame and plow bottom of simple construction yet possessing ample rigidity and strength for all plowing conditions.

The specific nature of this invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the attached sheets of drawings on which, by way of preferred example only, is illustrated one embodiment of this invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the improved plow and plow frame of this invention mounted on a. tractor.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view of a plow bottom incorporating the improved frog construction of this invention as viewed from the landside side.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the plane 44 of Fig. 1.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1 there is shown a tractor of well known make, having one rear wheel removed to better illustrate the hitch linkage of such tractor, which comprises a pair of transversely spaced, vertically swingable draft links 11 pivotally mounted as at 12 to the axle housing 13 of such tractor. Draft links 11 are respectively lifted by a pair of transversely spaced, pivoted lift arms 14 which are operable by the built-in tractor hydraulic system (not shown). Lift arms 14 are respectively connected to draft links 11 by tie rods 15. A top link member 16 is pivotally connected at 16a to a lug 17 provided on top of the axle housing 13. Links 11 and 16 are utilized for attaching the plow frame to tractor 10 as will be later described.

The improved plow frame of this invention comprises a plow beam 18 of tubular construction having a horizontal portion 18b and a downwardly and forwardly bent portion 18a on which is mounted a plow bottom 19 as will be later described. Plow beam 18 is mounted on the trailing draft links 11 and top link 16 of tractor 10 by an A-frame construction 20. A-frame 20 comprises a pair of side plates 21 of substantially triangular shape as shown in Figure 1. Each of such side plates is provided with a bottom vertical portion 21a and an inwardly and upwardly sloping side portion 21b terminating in a vertical portion 210. Top link 16 is pivotally mounted to A-frame 20 by a pin 16a transversely supported by the vertical portions 210.

A transverse base plate 22 is welded to the bottom end of each side plate 21 as shown in Figure 4. Plow beam 18 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to base plate 22, preferably in the center thereof as shown in Figure 4. A cross shaft or drawbar 23 is transversely, slidably supported in side plates 21 and such drawbar preferably passes through tubular beam 18 as best shown in Figure 4. Drawbar 23 is secured in a selected position of lateral adjustment by a pair of collars 23a provided respectively on the ends of such drawbar adjacent the inside face of vertical portion 21a of side plates 21. Set screws 23b permit collars 23a to be locked to drawbar 23 at its selected lateral position relative to plow beam 18. The tractor draft links 11 are mounted by the customary spherical bearings 11a 0n the ends of cross shaft 23 projecting beyond the outside of vertical portion 21a and such links are retained thereon by linch pins 24. Hence the lateral adjustment of cross shaft 23 providessome degree of adjustment of the effective cutting width of the low.

p Plow bottom 19 comprises a moldboard 25, a share 26, a landside 27 and a frog 28. Moldboard 25, share 26 and landside 27 may be of conventional construction and hence need no further description except to mention that moldboard 25, of course, has the usual compound curved scouring surface and share 26 abuts the bottom edge of such moldboard. Frog 28 embodies a plate 28a shaped to conform to the compound curvature of the moldboard so that such plate will snugly contact the back surface of such moldboard as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Moldboard 25 is secured to frog plate 28a by a plurality of bolts 25:: and share 26 is secured to frog plate 28a in abutting relationship to the bottom of moldboard 25 to frog plate 28a by a plurality of bolts 26a. A pair of vertically spaced, substantially horizontally disposed brackets 29 and 30 are welded to the landside face of frog plate 28a. Bracket 29 is essentially of triangular shape and is formed from plate stock and such bracket is welded to frog plate 28a near the top thereof as shown in Figures 1 and 2. A vertical aperture 29a is provided in plate 29 to admit end portion 18a of beam 18 and end portion 18:: is welded to bracket 29 for securing such end to the frog. The lower end of end portion 18a of beam 18 is supported within a transverse aperture 30a in bracket 30 which is vertically aligned with aperture 29a. Bracket 30 is likewise constructed of plate stock but is additionally provided with an integral downwardly bent edge 30b to which is secured landside 27 as will be presently described. Bracket 30 is also of triangular shape and converges forwardly whereby an angular relationship between share 26 and landside 27 is obtained. Bracket 30 is welded to the landside face of plate 28a and the bottom end of depending portion 18a of beam 18 is welded within aperture 30a. Landside 27 is bolted to the downwardly bent edge 30b of bracket 39 by a plurality of bolts 30c, such landside being further supported by a strap-like brace 31 secured to moldboard 25 by a bolt 31a and to the rear end of landside 27 by a bolt 31b.

With draft links 11 mounted on the ends of cross bar 23, and top link 16 connected between the upper ends of plates 21, plow bottom 19 can then be readily raised to a transport position by actuation of the tractor lift arms 14 whereby such plow may be conveniently carried to the Working area or raised for turning at the headland. Plow bottom 19 is readied for plowing by simply lowering lift arms 14.

It will be appreciated that a plurality of the improved plows of this invention may be readily mounted on the A-frame and suitably braced with respect to one another to provide a multiple bottom plow construction.

From the above description it will appear that there is here provided a simplified construction of plow beam and plow bottom which provides the utmost in strength, rigidity and adjustability while retaining the desirable characteristics of being relatively cheap and easy to fabricate. The plow beam is easily fabricated from a tubular section requiring only a single bending operation for completion of such member. The plow frog is comprised of simple forms easily produced by shearing or stamping.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A plow construction comprising in combination a plow beam having a depending end portion, a plow bottom having a moldboard and a share, a plate-like frog of uniform thickness, said plate-like frog having a moldboard receiving face and a landside face, means securing the moldboard and share in abutting relationship on said moldboard receiving face, an upper bracket plate edge-welded to said landside face of said frog in substantially perpendicularly projecting relation, a lower bracket plate edgewelded to said landside face of said frog in substantially References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 67,188 Gilman July 30, 1867 204,998 Ross June 8, 1878 263,528 Johnson Aug. 29, 1882 303,990 Davis Aug. 26, 1884 348,652 Anderson Sept. 7, 1886 426,166 Burrows Apr. 22, 1890 1,201,296 Hendricks Oct. 17, 1916 1,515,274 Priebatsch Nov. 11, 1924 2,320,141 Kott May 25, 1943 2,527,613 Zagurski Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 556,664 France Apr. 18, 1923 

